


Mind Like a Trap

by skylinesunflowers



Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling
Genre: Angst, Christmas, Gen, Harry Potter Next Generation, Realizations
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-19
Updated: 2020-09-19
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:28:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 956
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26542939
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skylinesunflowers/pseuds/skylinesunflowers
Summary: Molly asks Percy why he makes that face whenever someone talks about the war.
Relationships: Audrey Weasley/Percy Weasley
Kudos: 17





	Mind Like a Trap

**Author's Note:**

> For [this](https://hpfanfictionprompts.tumblr.com/post/60774994066/prompt-596-molly-asks-her-father-why-he-makes) prompt on tumblr.

Molly didn’t care about the war.

Yeah, it freed the Wizarding World from the greatest evil of all time, and all that, but it was _boring_. She heard about the important parts from some of her dormmates, sometimes directly and sometimes through the red and gold hangings at the top of their beds.

Their family didn’t really talk about the war, either. Mum was a Muggle, who set no stock in the Second Wizarding War. She let Dad handle that.

Lucky for Molly, Dad didn’t seem to set much stock in it either.

Lucy cared very deeply about the war. Whatever the occasion, be it Victoire’s birthday, the summer holidays, or Christmas, she’d listen to them go on and on.

Molly went off into the corner with Roxanne and played with her, but tiny Lucy, with her huge brown eyes, would stay perched on the edge of her seat and listen to Uncle Ron tell tall tales, and Aunt Hermione bring them crashing back to reality.

Until the Christmas of her fourth year. Lucy had just been sorted into Ravenclaw, her smart sister, and she and Roxanne were reading for the Charms Club Convention in Crail.

She hadn’t been listening in, exactly. Mum told her to get a book from the drawing room, so she’d gone in, and slid behind the door when Uncle Ron and Aunt Hermione came in.

Yeah, that was most likely a stupid move. Especially because she couldn’t hear a thing wedged between the door and the wall.

There was a whisper of ‘traitor’ and a few expletives Molly didn’t wish to recount. Then, Hermione clucking her tongue in disapproval. She slipped out without them noticing.

They were still talking about the war in the next room. Molly, uninterested, went over to the table to hand the book to Audrey. That was when she noticed the look on her father’s face.

It was one of great discomfort, brows pinched together as if he was in pain. A grimace of sorts, Molly guessed. Nobody seemed to notice, or said anything about it.

Molly watched her father closely over the next few days. If that meant helping Grandma Molly cook all four meals, then so be it. Anyways, Grandma knew more than she did. Could be useful.

“Grandma?” she asked when the kitchen was full, loud discussions going on around the table. “Why does Dad’s face go like that when you talk about the war?“

“Like what, Molly, darling?”

Molly tried to imitate her father’s slightly pained look. “Like this.”

Grandma’s face changed. She embodied all the ferocity of a Weasley mother when she replied briskly, “I’m sure I don’t know what you’re talking about, dear. Pass me the potatoes, will you?”

They told war stories again, and Molly almost envied Victoire for being on her honeymoon in Bulgaria. She kept a close eye on Percy, who made that same, elusive face he had been making. Enough of this damn charade. If she really wanted to know, she’d go and ask him.

So, later that night, when she, Lucy, and Roxanne had gotten into their pajamas, she snuck out of the room. Roxanne, scrolling through something on her phone, winked.

Dad was sitting on the edge of his bed, lost in thought. With a sigh, Molly tapped him on the shoulder, kneeling beside him.

“Molly?” he asked. “You went up to bed an hour ago.”

“How come you make that face every time someone brings up the war?” Molly asked bluntly. No use beating around the bush at 10:30 P.M.

“What face, Molls?” Percy asked, while making that very face.

“That one. You look like you’re in pain. Did something happen?”

Percy bit his lip. “Not - not exactly. I’m not sure that you’re old enough to know.”

“About what?”

“Okay, Molls.” He sighed. “I didn’t talk to the family for about two years before the war. I was stupid and arrogant, and I lost two years with Fred.”

Molly didn’t know much about Uncle Fred. He was Uncle George’s twin brother, and he passed away. She didn’t like to bring it up.

“What did you do?” Molly asked. Time to learn about the only historical thing that interested her.

“I sided with the Ministry. Believed in it, actually, until the year Vold - Voldemort took power. Then it was for my own safety.”

“But that’s not wrong.” It wasn’t wrong. People did things for their own safety the time. It was why Dominique stayed at Hogwarts during Christmas, uninterested in what Aunt Fleur had to say about her hair, style of dressing, or makeup in direct comparison to Vicky.

“It can be. My entire family was in danger, and I didn’t stick up for them until the end. I was a t - traitor.” Percy’s voice was full of steel.

“You came back, though, Dad. You weren’t a traitor.” Molly tucked some hair behind her ear.

“It’s okay, Molly. I’ve come to terms with it.” Percy swallowed. “If you could go to bed, now?”

Molly nodded slowly, and let herself out of the room, feet leaden. She heard Mum in the bedroom, talking in that low voice she used when Lucy broke her leg. Well, when James egged Lucy into breaking her leg.

Now she knew. It was because people thought Percy was a traitor. It was because Percy _himself_ thought he was a traitor.

Damn them all. Her father was a Weasley, not a traitor, and he never would be. After all, he came back.

And, when Lucy asked where she went, Molly told her she needed a glass of water. Roxanne knew it was a lie. But that was her favorite thing about her cousin.

She knew when not to ask questions.


End file.
